Thursday 31st, July 2008
Christopher Lawrence – Unfold #2
Back in 2005 John ‘00’ Flemming kicked off the Fektive mix with a 2 CD designed to give a taste of his signature crossover of trance and psy. Common in the world-class DJing scene although less common on the production side of things, Christopher Lawrence has moved over to J00F’s style more and more of late and we can definitely see this edge in his pounding live sets and flawless mix albums.
I got this through the door a couple of days ago on a sunny morning at 9am and decided I needed waking up pronto. Flipping the first CD into the tray revealed an eclectic mix of trance-influenced vibes that weren’t quite true to their roots. Lawrence’s fast-paced energy was ever-present, from the early ripping intertwining walls of sound courtesy of Glenn Frantz’s Backspace to the much more climactic Space Bar of the same producer. The first 30 minutes was like a ramping torrential rain waiting to burst – and once it does, hell fires it’s furious.
This is where the magic really shines through. 4Mal’s rework of Freza & DJ Flash’s Cosmogirl was definitely a wise choice; the rhythm is readily picked up by the pounding beats and takes you straight out of a comfort zone. The highlight of this CD for me was Georgia vs The Stimulator and their We Rise, a dripping frenzy of sonorous treats that really get you pumped for what is to come.
Where the first CD can be viewed as more of a warm up set, the second is all out pumping psy-trance, from the dark and infectious trance of Comin On, remix courtesy of Mark Sherry vs. James Allan to the acidic Killer. Towards the second half of the CD, though, there isn’t really any innovative mixing that takes the quality just that little bit further – it’s one of those designed for the club atmosphere and in this respect it has got a lot going from it.
That is until Toyster rips up the waves with a savage acid line that blow my worries about this CD away. In true Lawrence style, the bar is raised one more time in a final vigorous push for euphoria in the closing tracks. A real attempt at capturing the club vibe in a studio mix. Inspiring.
It’s a fantastic 2 CD mix that really does stand out from the rest. There’s nothing that’s going to push boundaries in terms of mixing here, though, and there energy is really reliant upon those carefully chosen heavyweights that work all by themselves. It also feels a little dated – most of the tracks are from 2007 - but that still doesn’t mean it’s not going to work.
In fact, it works extremely well and anyone who wants to experience a different type of uplifting EDM should definitely ease themselves into psy with this bomb! Hell, it got my girlfriend hooked...
Overall: 4/5
Samples and availability over at Juno.
Track list
CD1
01 Spooky - New Light (Strobelight Mix)
02 Glenn Frantz - Backspace
03 Matt Saunders - Nuance (Progressive Mix)
04 Fm Radio Gods - Elastoplast (True Lies Mix)
05 Audio Junkies - Somethinbg 4 your mind (Dub Mix)
06 Glenn Frantz - Space Bar
07 Freza & Dj Flash - Cosmogirl (4mal Underground Pink Mix)
08 Adam Nickey & Tiff Lacey - Letting go (Andrey Loud Dub)
09 Georgia & The Stimulator - We rise
10 Mark Norman - Blikken Machine
11 Rafa Rubio - Astonished
CD2
01 Bitmonx & Dj Fabio - Six A.M.
02 Sas - Comin on (Mark Sherry & James Allan)
03 Brain Damage - Waiting for my angel
04 Mad Contrabender - Illegal Hardware (Live)
05 Gaudium & Dualsnug - Killer
06 Etnica & Bamboo Forest - Microdrive
07 Basic - Toyster
08 Mad Hatters & Cosmonet - Intellect
09 Mad Hatters - Alien Area
10 Audio-X - And we survive
11 Jason Robinson - Acid Rain
12 Talamasca & Spacecat - On Purpose
Written by:
Scott Normanton
Back in 2005 John ‘00’ Flemming kicked off the Fektive mix with a 2 CD designed to give a taste of his signature crossover of trance and psy. Common in the world-class DJing scene although less common on the production side of things, Christopher Lawrence has moved over to J00F’s style more and more of late and we can definitely see this edge in his pounding live sets and flawless mix albums.
I got this through the door a couple of days ago on a sunny morning at 9am and decided I needed waking up pronto. Flipping the first CD into the tray revealed an eclectic mix of trance-influenced vibes that weren’t quite true to their roots. Lawrence’s fast-paced energy was ever-present, from the early ripping intertwining walls of sound courtesy of Glenn Frantz’s Backspace to the much more climactic Space Bar of the same producer. The first 30 minutes was like a ramping torrential rain waiting to burst – and once it does, hell fires it’s furious.
This is where the magic really shines through. 4Mal’s rework of Freza & DJ Flash’s Cosmogirl was definitely a wise choice; the rhythm is readily picked up by the pounding beats and takes you straight out of a comfort zone. The highlight of this CD for me was Georgia vs The Stimulator and their We Rise, a dripping frenzy of sonorous treats that really get you pumped for what is to come.
Where the first CD can be viewed as more of a warm up set, the second is all out pumping psy-trance, from the dark and infectious trance of Comin On, remix courtesy of Mark Sherry vs. James Allan to the acidic Killer. Towards the second half of the CD, though, there isn’t really any innovative mixing that takes the quality just that little bit further – it’s one of those designed for the club atmosphere and in this respect it has got a lot going from it.
That is until Toyster rips up the waves with a savage acid line that blow my worries about this CD away. In true Lawrence style, the bar is raised one more time in a final vigorous push for euphoria in the closing tracks. A real attempt at capturing the club vibe in a studio mix. Inspiring.
It’s a fantastic 2 CD mix that really does stand out from the rest. There’s nothing that’s going to push boundaries in terms of mixing here, though, and there energy is really reliant upon those carefully chosen heavyweights that work all by themselves. It also feels a little dated – most of the tracks are from 2007 - but that still doesn’t mean it’s not going to work.
In fact, it works extremely well and anyone who wants to experience a different type of uplifting EDM should definitely ease themselves into psy with this bomb! Hell, it got my girlfriend hooked...
Overall: 4/5
Samples and availability over at Juno.
Track list
CD1
01 Spooky - New Light (Strobelight Mix)
02 Glenn Frantz - Backspace
03 Matt Saunders - Nuance (Progressive Mix)
04 Fm Radio Gods - Elastoplast (True Lies Mix)
05 Audio Junkies - Somethinbg 4 your mind (Dub Mix)
06 Glenn Frantz - Space Bar
07 Freza & Dj Flash - Cosmogirl (4mal Underground Pink Mix)
08 Adam Nickey & Tiff Lacey - Letting go (Andrey Loud Dub)
09 Georgia & The Stimulator - We rise
10 Mark Norman - Blikken Machine
11 Rafa Rubio - Astonished
CD2
01 Bitmonx & Dj Fabio - Six A.M.
02 Sas - Comin on (Mark Sherry & James Allan)
03 Brain Damage - Waiting for my angel
04 Mad Contrabender - Illegal Hardware (Live)
05 Gaudium & Dualsnug - Killer
06 Etnica & Bamboo Forest - Microdrive
07 Basic - Toyster
08 Mad Hatters & Cosmonet - Intellect
09 Mad Hatters - Alien Area
10 Audio-X - And we survive
11 Jason Robinson - Acid Rain
12 Talamasca & Spacecat - On Purpose
Written by:
Scott Normanton
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